Aug. 5, 2026
Sexual Harassment Investigation Pushes Another Congressman Out Of Race, And The Details Are ICK
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RSS Feed Republican congressman Chuck Edwards looks like he’s one and done, after serving his first term in Congress, Edwards announced he is dropping his bid for reelection after an ethics investigation. The findings of the house ethics reports show that Edwards “engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.” While the 65-year-old husband, father and grandfather dropped his bid, another republican congressman, Max Miller has vowed to continue his re-election campaign after multiple women have come forward with domestic violence allegations. Miller even asking the ethics committee to open a full investigation into his conduct to try and clear his name.
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00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey, the folks, it is Wednesday, August fifth, and the House Ethics Committee sure is busy these days. They just started a new investigation of one member of Congress after they just voted to censure another member of Congress, and that one has now decided he's not gonna seek reelection after a report came out that said this six to five year old man was doing some pretty creepy stuff towards some young staffords in his office. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Kind of a wow. We've just been reading through this House Ethics report on Representative Chuck Edwards, Republican of North Carolina, and just.
00:00:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, the twenty five pages in the report are available for everyone to read. We read them this morning, and you know what I just first of all, it's such a creepily familiar situation, an older man who finds power who is and I think this is a fair word to use, seducing wildly younger staffers. That was what he was trying to do. He was trying to seduce them.
00:01:17
Speaker 3: It didn't work.
00:01:18
Speaker 2: They were just understandably creeped the hell out. But this is unfortunately common disgusting behavior by certain men in positions of power who suddenly find themselves.
00:01:32
Speaker 1: In positions a position of.
00:01:34
Speaker 2: Power over young women who would never have ordinarily maybe growing up, ever given him the time of day, and he abuses said power.
00:01:43
Speaker 1: And we are going to and I think it is important rooms too, and we listed right. The House Committee put out a detailed report in which they flat out say our evidence is this, and they have it bullet pointed. We're going to share some of these little incidents I guess over the year years with these young women. One of them was nineteen when she first started working for him, when he was still in the state Senate. Now he's in his first term in Congress. But Rose, you do a little math there, you'd have to assume both of these women are in their early twenties at this point. He's sixty five, been married for forty years, I think, rightes.
00:02:17
Speaker 2: I think forty six years I believe is the actual anniversary. And they have two kids, they have grandkids, they have an established life there.
00:02:26
Speaker 3: In North Carolina.
00:02:27
Speaker 2: So, yes, this is gutting to him personally, I would imagine.
00:02:31
Speaker 1: So it came out first thing this morning. We'll give you at least his post on social media on X. Again, this is after a report came out and they had recommended a full censure of him. He just put out a statement, Robes had read, simply, after much prayer and reflection, I've decided to withdraw from my reelection campaign. I will complete my current term. He made that move, Robes, after some pretty damning and again this is these are not suggestions here, we should say ropes about sexual assault. The committee also said they didn't find any evidence of him having sex with the staffer, which is certainly something against the rules. That's not what they were saying, But Robes they point to time after time what sounds like a horrific work experience experience for these young ladies.
00:03:21
Speaker 2: Yes, and so yes, I do think it's really important we reiterate the fact that he has not been accused of any sort of physical contact with these young women.
00:03:33
Speaker 3: However, the mental.
00:03:36
Speaker 2: Anguish that these women I would imagine went through just knowing that you're working for somebody and look, this is an opportunity you're in DC.
00:03:45
Speaker 3: These women came from.
00:03:46
Speaker 2: North Carolina and they're wanting to believe in our government. They're impressionable, they are getting an opportunity. They don't want to mess up the opportunity. But now you've got the man you're working for not just making comments towards you or complimenting you, but lavishing you with expensive gifts and experiences, wanting private one on one time with you. And it's constant getting upset if you bring a plus one to a DC event and just feeling this awful feeling of being groomed and surveilled. And clearly he was trying to take things further and clearly they didn't want to.
00:04:34
Speaker 1: And we should say he has denied wrongdoing, even though he has, as the report pointed out robes he did admit to some of these incidents. He said it should not have been or it was not romantic or sexual in nature, even though he might have admitted that. Okay, I can see why it looks that way, but he has denied the wrong doing. The findings of this report flat out, and we're going to quote them. He quote engaged in persistent, unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young females staffers, says quote. His pattern of behavior would lead to a reasonable observer to interpret it as such romantic and sexual, including providing the young women with lavish and recurrent gifts, making comments regarding their appearance and dress, invite them to intimate dinners and vacation sending notes regarding how effusive affection, and inviting them to other activities as a way to spend time together. Ropes to your point, and they say it. Both women were uncomfortable put in an untenable position by virtue of his status as their boss and the member of Congress. Ropes. Yes, your boss is your boss. Now your boss actually has power, he's sworn in, he's a member of Congress. Ropes, And every day he's making you uncomfortable. That's hostile.
00:05:53
Speaker 3: How can you work?
00:05:54
Speaker 2: But it's tough because and again I go back to just I think everyone listening, every woman listening, who's been in the profession a world when you're young. Yes, you are trying to You want to impress your boss, You want to put a good foot forward, but you don't want to get a leg up that way. And truthfully, I was imagining these young women. Everyone in the office was whispering about this. They knew the attention that those women were getting, and even perhaps the gifts they were getting, the invites they were getting, And rumors start and spread, and that's something they could not undo their reputations. Even though they didn't do anything wrong. It could have looked like and probably did look like they were sleeping with him. They were returning the affection in exchange for some sort of power or some sort of clout or some sort of career advancement. And that's a tough thing to get out of when people start whispering about you like that. So these women did experience harm, not just from him, but from the rumor mill in the office and all of that that is involved.
00:06:52
Speaker 3: When you are given.
00:06:54
Speaker 2: Unwanted attention, it's still attention that people whisper about, and they wonder, think the worst of you, and some.
00:07:01
Speaker 1: Of these things. And this is the difficult position robes a woman is put in. What if you're what if your boss is giving your stuff you didn't ask for what you accept or then you even want or you enjoy.
00:07:13
Speaker 3: But if you don't accept it, what does that say? Now you're emasculating him.
00:07:17
Speaker 2: Now you're humiliating him or offending him.
00:07:21
Speaker 1: Why should it ever be on that woman, that young woman to say, no, sir, this is inappropriate. You keep it.
00:07:31
Speaker 2: Who is going to be because now she's afraid she's gonna get fired, demoted, passed over.
00:07:35
Speaker 1: Can you say that? Where do you go to? Where is your he? What do you do in that position?
00:07:40
Speaker 2: Robes?
00:07:40
Speaker 1: And the gifts we're talking about here, jewelry worth more than a thousand dollars is how they listed it. Trips, designer bags, shoes, guns, flowers, laptop, a cell phone, kitchen aid mixer, a robot, vacuum, and tickets to shows. That's a lot of stuff.
00:07:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, and when you get into the details of what he did and where he took them, this is when it gets really really creepy and nicky. So he brought one of the young women to a holiday event.
00:08:07
Speaker 3: At the White House.
00:08:08
Speaker 2: That's a big deal, but he hid the details from other staffers. He bought her flowers, texted her in advanced that he was so excited about tonight that he wanted the evening to be perfect. He then pressured her to continue the evening with him after the event, insisted on having her travel to and from the event in his car with his driver, with him being there alongside her. He took her all the way back to Virginia from a DC event because quote, he felt uncomfortable dumping a young lady on the street.
00:08:43
Speaker 1: That's just he's sixty five now, sound like he had a date night.
00:08:47
Speaker 2: That's exactly what he was what he was doing. And then this same young woman he took on political trips with him, including one to New York City where they stayed an extra day for his birthday, and then he surprised her with like a full day of one on one events, a helicopter ride, dinner, a Broadway show. I mean, this is all a lot of pressure you are putting on this young woman.
00:09:15
Speaker 1: The part of that one, he thought heith surprise her. That was his plan. He's going to surprise her with the personal activities during this extra day inappropriate. She's trapped. Like she's trapped, she's almost being held hostage by her boss. What are you supposed to do?
00:09:29
Speaker 2: She's being taken out on a world win romantic day date with someone who she has zero romantic interest in, and who is her boss, and who is an elected member of the of Congress.
00:09:44
Speaker 3: I mean that is concerning.
00:09:45
Speaker 1: This next one is concerning and bizarre. He's sixty five and not dating her. What is the upset about?
00:09:52
Speaker 3: Uh? Yeah, so he left early from an event. This is the one. It's funny. This one creeped me out almost the most.
00:09:59
Speaker 2: But there's there was Congress, members of Congress, there was their staff, and they were at this big event. He told this same young woman that he left early because she brought a date. And when he was asked specifically about this when he was testifying to the committee, he said that that was true, but that he told her he didn't want to be in the way, or something to that effect.
00:10:22
Speaker 3: But still, what would it matter if she had a date with her or not?
00:10:26
Speaker 1: What does that mean in the way or something to that effect. That is, he felt he was jealous.
00:10:32
Speaker 2: He was jealous and felt upset that she brought a date with her to an event that is scary.
00:10:41
Speaker 1: That actually is that that cross was a line into obsession and possession.
00:10:48
Speaker 3: I guess yes, that's a good way to put it.
00:10:49
Speaker 2: And then he also said told the same young woman and other staffers he would talk about going to strip clubs in DC. Again, just things you do not want to hear from your boss. Things you should not have to hear.
00:11:01
Speaker 3: About from your boss.
00:11:03
Speaker 2: And then so this is all the same young woman, but that he invited her and another young woman to private dinners and at least in one instance, told the other young woman that she should not have the scheduler put it on his calendar. That implies right there that he knew he was doing something he shouldn't have. He knew he was doing something that was not appropriate.
00:11:27
Speaker 1: I talk about late night texts here as were as well. This one, I think was your other favorite role of this idea, the chores, the yard work he was doing at one of the staffer's house, went to Stafford two's house to perform chores like yardwork, pick her up and drop her off for events and activities with his driver, and decorate her Christmas tree together, for which he skipped votes in the house that.
00:11:52
Speaker 3: Evening, So he missed work voting.
00:11:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, like that is his congressional duty to go be at her private home to decorate a Christmas tree with her. He also booked and paid for massages and spa treatments for this staffer. That is boyfriend gifting. That is romantic relationship partner gifting. That is not something you get from your boss.
00:12:20
Speaker 1: Okay, these other two crazy ones. Where's the one about the poem you read? There we go. It says and we're quoting here directly from this congressional report. Wrote poems to one staffer, including one poem that he read at her going away party in the congressional office, accompanied by a slide show during which he cried. Several staffers present testify that they felt uncomfortable, and Representative Edwards acknowledged in his own testimony that he could tell the staff felt uncomfortable.
00:12:54
Speaker 2: What yeah, why would you feel that much for someone on their going away party? And by the way, it's the same staffer that he actually she thanked him for a fun night. And then he printed out that text message she sent him months later, drew a heart next to the message, and hand wrote perhaps my proudest personal moment. This is a husband, a father, and a grandfather, and yet a young staffer said thanks for the fun night, and he puts next to it, perhaps my proudest personal moment.
00:13:35
Speaker 1: Okay, not sure what was in his head. This is the last one I'll share here. Rose about the birthday party in which he hired. He hired a singer to go to the staffer's birthday party. The singer sends saying some edge Sharon song. Oh they were supposed to just say, quote, it's from a special someone. Now the committee goes on the right here they received evidence that staffer too told a friend that this led to her belief that the congressman did not view her as quote just a daughter figure and that she was quote scared low KEI. That sounds like very young people.
00:14:11
Speaker 2: We hear loki, We hear lokei in every sentence, low ki versus high key.
00:14:16
Speaker 3: But that does speak to her generation and how old she is. She is low key scared, low key scared. She guy definitely in her twenties.
00:14:23
Speaker 1: Well, when does she do? Some of this stuff goes beyond the gifts and whatnot. He was forcing himself into their lives. Now, I don't know anytime they received it. I would never say they did so willingly, like maybe they did on a kit, but I would give them the benefit of the doubt. Here, Rose, what are you supposed to say when your boss shows up to do yard work and you and you're he's sixty whatever, you're nineteen, twenty twenty one, twenty two, whatever, What are you supposed to do?
00:14:49
Speaker 3: It's an impossible situation to be in. And this is I guarantee you. So many women listening.
00:14:57
Speaker 2: I don't care what age you were at, you had an experience similar to this, and there was nowhere to go, nothing to do. I'm grateful that we now live in an era at a time where women can say something and they are believed and there are real consequences for this type of behavior. Yes, he didn't cross the physical line, but this is absolutely excruciating to live with this day in and day out, and to know that your career is hanging in the balance.
00:15:23
Speaker 3: This isn't just about a job. This is about your career. This is about your reputation, and if.
00:15:28
Speaker 2: You say something, you become that woman and people start now questioning your credibility and your role in all of this, and it becomes really a difficult situation. So I'm just grateful that these women were heard, believed, and that real action is being taken.
00:15:41
Speaker 1: I wonder if what if only been one of them exactly there's a tandem, and they can They probably all knew the stories and been talking and comparing story, but it's you know, I wonder if that was helpful and having two victims, if you will, And this is absolute sexual harassment, this is this is classic. But as they are wrapping up with Edwards. They're still dealing now with Max Miller. Stay here, we'll give you update. It is significant, including a lot we saw and a lot we heard from Miller in an extended live interview yesterday.
00:16:14
Speaker 2: Stay here, Welcome back everyone to Amy and TJ. We have a lot of congressional potentially bad behavior. I just want to say potentially, because Max Miller is fighting for his reputation, the congressman who is running for his third term a Republican out of Ohio.
00:16:39
Speaker 3: He's got some messy, messy, messy.
00:16:41
Speaker 2: Personal stuff that is spilling over now into his professional life. And he's got an ex father in law who's a senator who's been speaking out, and he has been on a massive campaign to defend himself against not just his ex wife's domestic abuse allegations, but an ex girlfriend who was a former staffer at the White House, and even.
00:17:03
Speaker 3: A high school girlfriend.
00:17:06
Speaker 2: Now, so he's got three women claiming he is a violent man, and he is refusing everybody's lying, refusing to acknowledge any of it, saying he's a victim, and all of it to the point where he actually called for his own ethics investigation.
00:17:22
Speaker 1: That's a strategic move Ma. It's a risky one, but you look like yourself that I'm calling for, like I am desperate to get my name clear. That's why some people want to go to trial, like yes, please, I need to be exonerate.
00:17:33
Speaker 3: Looking forward to my day in court.
00:17:35
Speaker 1: Yes, so he is getting his or pushing for his day in court. The allegations are what they Jesus crime me, these three women, similar stories, patterns. Well, it's okay, but he has never been hauled into court to face charges of any kind when he comes to domestic violence.
00:17:53
Speaker 3: And that was his big defense.
00:17:54
Speaker 2: We saw him give a very long interview on CNM with Jake Tappery yesterday where I have to at least admit this. He was very composed. He kept us cool, He was calm, He didn't get emotional. He didn't react to some of the questions that Jake Tapper was repeatedly asking him. That could have sent a lot of folks down a different road. He maintained his cool and calm. And his big thing is I have been investigated. I have been investigated by family services, I have been investigated by police exhaustively.
00:18:27
Speaker 3: He said.
00:18:27
Speaker 2: Some of these investigations have lasted up to a year and I have been cleared of all wrongdoing. I have never been charged. And so that is his defense. And so I guess in terms of just going beyond that, he's saying, go ahead, investigate me.
00:18:43
Speaker 3: I'm calling for it. I have nothing to hide. I've done nothing wrong.
00:18:47
Speaker 2: And so look, it is a tactic to take. You can walk away and say peace out. I'm going to protect my family. I'm going to protect my reputation, my daughter, and protect my peace. He is saying that, but he actually got He admitted he got a phone call from Trump.
00:19:02
Speaker 3: There were some rumors that Trump told him to.
00:19:05
Speaker 2: Get out of the race basically because today is the day, this Wednesday, this is the last day to replace him. And he claims he told the President, Hey, just like you, I'm going to fight I'm going to fight back against these allegations.
00:19:17
Speaker 3: You had the same thing.
00:19:18
Speaker 2: Going on or something similar in twenty sixteen, and look what you did.
00:19:22
Speaker 3: I'm going to do the same thing.
00:19:24
Speaker 1: He used that in the interview on CNN as well. It's an interesting tactic, but what does he have left? But it's to compare himself to the president who's actually had a jury judgment against him happy to do with sexual assault in a bathroom.
00:19:41
Speaker 3: No, no, no, no, not a dressing in a dressing room.
00:19:43
Speaker 1: So I don't know.
00:19:46
Speaker 2: I guess he knows his audience, and that's the MAGA audience, who do not believe that President Trump, even though he was accused of that among many many egregious acts against women, he feels like, see, they weren't correct, And I'm like the president, and allegations can be made, but it doesn't mean that they occurred.
00:20:09
Speaker 1: But we're sitting here in New York talking about him, and that all that matters is the people in his seventh district in Ohio. That's all that matters. Now, polling there is pretty close. I think he has fallen behind and wasn't supposed to. But still that is a race that is winnable at least polling wise, for him. Let them decide.
00:20:30
Speaker 2: Look, and I don't have an issue with that in terms of letting the political process play out as it was intended by our founding fathers. Let the voters decide who they want to represent them in Ohio seventh district there in Congress, and if it's Max Miller, okay.
00:20:47
Speaker 1: But they're stuck with him after today can't be released. So nobody's going to go campaign for him, I assume, But I.
00:20:54
Speaker 2: Don't think we're going to see anyone standing by his side endorsing him at this point.
00:21:00
Speaker 1: His ex father in law.
00:21:02
Speaker 2: And I wonder if we've heard the last from Senator Moreno. He basically and look, he took a couple of years where he said nothing, He stayed out of it. This was personal, this was private. But after Max Miller went on a how long was his live stream over the weekend where he went on a big defense campaign, that is when Senator Moreno finally did speak out and speak against his ex son in law. So we will see how this messy family situation. But again it's beyond that. It's not just his ex wife. You've got two other women. In fact, the ex girlfriend who had similar allegations against Representative Miller actually this week filed a restraining order.
00:21:43
Speaker 3: Unclear what prompted that.
00:21:45
Speaker 2: Or if it was just for show or just to remind everyone of her allegations against him as well.
00:21:50
Speaker 1: You know what they had to do with that was some allegation having to do with their attorneys and harassment. Is a like, what is going on this whole case. This is a mess, and it's a family mess. And you know who sounds like she didn't want it in public? His ex wife like this.
00:22:07
Speaker 2: They have a daughter, They have a two year old daughter who is going to hear these things, see these things, read these things in the coming years. And yes, that is a sign of a good parent. You want to protect your child from all of this drama. But that ship has sailed, unfortunately, it appears, but will continue to watch what goes on with Congress and Miller, who is vowing to stay in the race. He will be on that ballot, it appears, unless something happens in the next I don't know, less than twenty four hours. He will be on the ballot there in November in Ohio.
00:22:36
Speaker 3: And we will continue to.
00:22:37
Speaker 2: Follow all of the developments. We appreciate you as always everyone. I made me Roebuck alongside TJ.
00:22:43
Speaker 3: Holmes. We'll talk SI
Speaker 1: Hey, the folks, it is Wednesday, August fifth, and the House Ethics Committee sure is busy these days. They just started a new investigation of one member of Congress after they just voted to censure another member of Congress, and that one has now decided he's not gonna seek reelection after a report came out that said this six to five year old man was doing some pretty creepy stuff towards some young staffords in his office. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Kind of a wow. We've just been reading through this House Ethics report on Representative Chuck Edwards, Republican of North Carolina, and just.
00:00:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, the twenty five pages in the report are available for everyone to read. We read them this morning, and you know what I just first of all, it's such a creepily familiar situation, an older man who finds power who is and I think this is a fair word to use, seducing wildly younger staffers. That was what he was trying to do. He was trying to seduce them.
00:01:17
Speaker 3: It didn't work.
00:01:18
Speaker 2: They were just understandably creeped the hell out. But this is unfortunately common disgusting behavior by certain men in positions of power who suddenly find themselves.
00:01:32
Speaker 1: In positions a position of.
00:01:34
Speaker 2: Power over young women who would never have ordinarily maybe growing up, ever given him the time of day, and he abuses said power.
00:01:43
Speaker 1: And we are going to and I think it is important rooms too, and we listed right. The House Committee put out a detailed report in which they flat out say our evidence is this, and they have it bullet pointed. We're going to share some of these little incidents I guess over the year years with these young women. One of them was nineteen when she first started working for him, when he was still in the state Senate. Now he's in his first term in Congress. But Rose, you do a little math there, you'd have to assume both of these women are in their early twenties at this point. He's sixty five, been married for forty years, I think, rightes.
00:02:17
Speaker 2: I think forty six years I believe is the actual anniversary. And they have two kids, they have grandkids, they have an established life there.
00:02:26
Speaker 3: In North Carolina.
00:02:27
Speaker 2: So, yes, this is gutting to him personally, I would imagine.
00:02:31
Speaker 1: So it came out first thing this morning. We'll give you at least his post on social media on X. Again, this is after a report came out and they had recommended a full censure of him. He just put out a statement, Robes had read, simply, after much prayer and reflection, I've decided to withdraw from my reelection campaign. I will complete my current term. He made that move, Robes, after some pretty damning and again this is these are not suggestions here, we should say ropes about sexual assault. The committee also said they didn't find any evidence of him having sex with the staffer, which is certainly something against the rules. That's not what they were saying, But Robes they point to time after time what sounds like a horrific work experience experience for these young ladies.
00:03:21
Speaker 2: Yes, and so yes, I do think it's really important we reiterate the fact that he has not been accused of any sort of physical contact with these young women.
00:03:33
Speaker 3: However, the mental.
00:03:36
Speaker 2: Anguish that these women I would imagine went through just knowing that you're working for somebody and look, this is an opportunity you're in DC.
00:03:45
Speaker 3: These women came from.
00:03:46
Speaker 2: North Carolina and they're wanting to believe in our government. They're impressionable, they are getting an opportunity. They don't want to mess up the opportunity. But now you've got the man you're working for not just making comments towards you or complimenting you, but lavishing you with expensive gifts and experiences, wanting private one on one time with you. And it's constant getting upset if you bring a plus one to a DC event and just feeling this awful feeling of being groomed and surveilled. And clearly he was trying to take things further and clearly they didn't want to.
00:04:34
Speaker 1: And we should say he has denied wrongdoing, even though he has, as the report pointed out robes he did admit to some of these incidents. He said it should not have been or it was not romantic or sexual in nature, even though he might have admitted that. Okay, I can see why it looks that way, but he has denied the wrong doing. The findings of this report flat out, and we're going to quote them. He quote engaged in persistent, unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young females staffers, says quote. His pattern of behavior would lead to a reasonable observer to interpret it as such romantic and sexual, including providing the young women with lavish and recurrent gifts, making comments regarding their appearance and dress, invite them to intimate dinners and vacation sending notes regarding how effusive affection, and inviting them to other activities as a way to spend time together. Ropes to your point, and they say it. Both women were uncomfortable put in an untenable position by virtue of his status as their boss and the member of Congress. Ropes. Yes, your boss is your boss. Now your boss actually has power, he's sworn in, he's a member of Congress. Ropes, And every day he's making you uncomfortable. That's hostile.
00:05:53
Speaker 3: How can you work?
00:05:54
Speaker 2: But it's tough because and again I go back to just I think everyone listening, every woman listening, who's been in the profession a world when you're young. Yes, you are trying to You want to impress your boss, You want to put a good foot forward, but you don't want to get a leg up that way. And truthfully, I was imagining these young women. Everyone in the office was whispering about this. They knew the attention that those women were getting, and even perhaps the gifts they were getting, the invites they were getting, And rumors start and spread, and that's something they could not undo their reputations. Even though they didn't do anything wrong. It could have looked like and probably did look like they were sleeping with him. They were returning the affection in exchange for some sort of power or some sort of clout or some sort of career advancement. And that's a tough thing to get out of when people start whispering about you like that. So these women did experience harm, not just from him, but from the rumor mill in the office and all of that that is involved.
00:06:52
Speaker 3: When you are given.
00:06:54
Speaker 2: Unwanted attention, it's still attention that people whisper about, and they wonder, think the worst of you, and some.
00:07:01
Speaker 1: Of these things. And this is the difficult position robes a woman is put in. What if you're what if your boss is giving your stuff you didn't ask for what you accept or then you even want or you enjoy.
00:07:13
Speaker 3: But if you don't accept it, what does that say? Now you're emasculating him.
00:07:17
Speaker 2: Now you're humiliating him or offending him.
00:07:21
Speaker 1: Why should it ever be on that woman, that young woman to say, no, sir, this is inappropriate. You keep it.
00:07:31
Speaker 2: Who is going to be because now she's afraid she's gonna get fired, demoted, passed over.
00:07:35
Speaker 1: Can you say that? Where do you go to? Where is your he? What do you do in that position?
00:07:40
Speaker 2: Robes?
00:07:40
Speaker 1: And the gifts we're talking about here, jewelry worth more than a thousand dollars is how they listed it. Trips, designer bags, shoes, guns, flowers, laptop, a cell phone, kitchen aid mixer, a robot, vacuum, and tickets to shows. That's a lot of stuff.
00:07:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, and when you get into the details of what he did and where he took them, this is when it gets really really creepy and nicky. So he brought one of the young women to a holiday event.
00:08:07
Speaker 3: At the White House.
00:08:08
Speaker 2: That's a big deal, but he hid the details from other staffers. He bought her flowers, texted her in advanced that he was so excited about tonight that he wanted the evening to be perfect. He then pressured her to continue the evening with him after the event, insisted on having her travel to and from the event in his car with his driver, with him being there alongside her. He took her all the way back to Virginia from a DC event because quote, he felt uncomfortable dumping a young lady on the street.
00:08:43
Speaker 1: That's just he's sixty five now, sound like he had a date night.
00:08:47
Speaker 2: That's exactly what he was what he was doing. And then this same young woman he took on political trips with him, including one to New York City where they stayed an extra day for his birthday, and then he surprised her with like a full day of one on one events, a helicopter ride, dinner, a Broadway show. I mean, this is all a lot of pressure you are putting on this young woman.
00:09:15
Speaker 1: The part of that one, he thought heith surprise her. That was his plan. He's going to surprise her with the personal activities during this extra day inappropriate. She's trapped. Like she's trapped, she's almost being held hostage by her boss. What are you supposed to do?
00:09:29
Speaker 2: She's being taken out on a world win romantic day date with someone who she has zero romantic interest in, and who is her boss, and who is an elected member of the of Congress.
00:09:44
Speaker 3: I mean that is concerning.
00:09:45
Speaker 1: This next one is concerning and bizarre. He's sixty five and not dating her. What is the upset about?
00:09:52
Speaker 3: Uh? Yeah, so he left early from an event. This is the one. It's funny. This one creeped me out almost the most.
00:09:59
Speaker 2: But there's there was Congress, members of Congress, there was their staff, and they were at this big event. He told this same young woman that he left early because she brought a date. And when he was asked specifically about this when he was testifying to the committee, he said that that was true, but that he told her he didn't want to be in the way, or something to that effect.
00:10:22
Speaker 3: But still, what would it matter if she had a date with her or not?
00:10:26
Speaker 1: What does that mean in the way or something to that effect. That is, he felt he was jealous.
00:10:32
Speaker 2: He was jealous and felt upset that she brought a date with her to an event that is scary.
00:10:41
Speaker 1: That actually is that that cross was a line into obsession and possession.
00:10:48
Speaker 3: I guess yes, that's a good way to put it.
00:10:49
Speaker 2: And then he also said told the same young woman and other staffers he would talk about going to strip clubs in DC. Again, just things you do not want to hear from your boss. Things you should not have to hear.
00:11:01
Speaker 3: About from your boss.
00:11:03
Speaker 2: And then so this is all the same young woman, but that he invited her and another young woman to private dinners and at least in one instance, told the other young woman that she should not have the scheduler put it on his calendar. That implies right there that he knew he was doing something he shouldn't have. He knew he was doing something that was not appropriate.
00:11:27
Speaker 1: I talk about late night texts here as were as well. This one, I think was your other favorite role of this idea, the chores, the yard work he was doing at one of the staffer's house, went to Stafford two's house to perform chores like yardwork, pick her up and drop her off for events and activities with his driver, and decorate her Christmas tree together, for which he skipped votes in the house that.
00:11:52
Speaker 3: Evening, So he missed work voting.
00:11:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, like that is his congressional duty to go be at her private home to decorate a Christmas tree with her. He also booked and paid for massages and spa treatments for this staffer. That is boyfriend gifting. That is romantic relationship partner gifting. That is not something you get from your boss.
00:12:20
Speaker 1: Okay, these other two crazy ones. Where's the one about the poem you read? There we go. It says and we're quoting here directly from this congressional report. Wrote poems to one staffer, including one poem that he read at her going away party in the congressional office, accompanied by a slide show during which he cried. Several staffers present testify that they felt uncomfortable, and Representative Edwards acknowledged in his own testimony that he could tell the staff felt uncomfortable.
00:12:54
Speaker 2: What yeah, why would you feel that much for someone on their going away party? And by the way, it's the same staffer that he actually she thanked him for a fun night. And then he printed out that text message she sent him months later, drew a heart next to the message, and hand wrote perhaps my proudest personal moment. This is a husband, a father, and a grandfather, and yet a young staffer said thanks for the fun night, and he puts next to it, perhaps my proudest personal moment.
00:13:35
Speaker 1: Okay, not sure what was in his head. This is the last one I'll share here. Rose about the birthday party in which he hired. He hired a singer to go to the staffer's birthday party. The singer sends saying some edge Sharon song. Oh they were supposed to just say, quote, it's from a special someone. Now the committee goes on the right here they received evidence that staffer too told a friend that this led to her belief that the congressman did not view her as quote just a daughter figure and that she was quote scared low KEI. That sounds like very young people.
00:14:11
Speaker 2: We hear loki, We hear lokei in every sentence, low ki versus high key.
00:14:16
Speaker 3: But that does speak to her generation and how old she is. She is low key scared, low key scared. She guy definitely in her twenties.
00:14:23
Speaker 1: Well, when does she do? Some of this stuff goes beyond the gifts and whatnot. He was forcing himself into their lives. Now, I don't know anytime they received it. I would never say they did so willingly, like maybe they did on a kit, but I would give them the benefit of the doubt. Here, Rose, what are you supposed to say when your boss shows up to do yard work and you and you're he's sixty whatever, you're nineteen, twenty twenty one, twenty two, whatever, What are you supposed to do?
00:14:49
Speaker 3: It's an impossible situation to be in. And this is I guarantee you. So many women listening.
00:14:57
Speaker 2: I don't care what age you were at, you had an experience similar to this, and there was nowhere to go, nothing to do. I'm grateful that we now live in an era at a time where women can say something and they are believed and there are real consequences for this type of behavior. Yes, he didn't cross the physical line, but this is absolutely excruciating to live with this day in and day out, and to know that your career is hanging in the balance.
00:15:23
Speaker 3: This isn't just about a job. This is about your career. This is about your reputation, and if.
00:15:28
Speaker 2: You say something, you become that woman and people start now questioning your credibility and your role in all of this, and it becomes really a difficult situation. So I'm just grateful that these women were heard, believed, and that real action is being taken.
00:15:41
Speaker 1: I wonder if what if only been one of them exactly there's a tandem, and they can They probably all knew the stories and been talking and comparing story, but it's you know, I wonder if that was helpful and having two victims, if you will, And this is absolute sexual harassment, this is this is classic. But as they are wrapping up with Edwards. They're still dealing now with Max Miller. Stay here, we'll give you update. It is significant, including a lot we saw and a lot we heard from Miller in an extended live interview yesterday.
00:16:14
Speaker 2: Stay here, Welcome back everyone to Amy and TJ. We have a lot of congressional potentially bad behavior. I just want to say potentially, because Max Miller is fighting for his reputation, the congressman who is running for his third term a Republican out of Ohio.
00:16:39
Speaker 3: He's got some messy, messy, messy.
00:16:41
Speaker 2: Personal stuff that is spilling over now into his professional life. And he's got an ex father in law who's a senator who's been speaking out, and he has been on a massive campaign to defend himself against not just his ex wife's domestic abuse allegations, but an ex girlfriend who was a former staffer at the White House, and even.
00:17:03
Speaker 3: A high school girlfriend.
00:17:06
Speaker 2: Now, so he's got three women claiming he is a violent man, and he is refusing everybody's lying, refusing to acknowledge any of it, saying he's a victim, and all of it to the point where he actually called for his own ethics investigation.
00:17:22
Speaker 1: That's a strategic move Ma. It's a risky one, but you look like yourself that I'm calling for, like I am desperate to get my name clear. That's why some people want to go to trial, like yes, please, I need to be exonerate.
00:17:33
Speaker 3: Looking forward to my day in court.
00:17:35
Speaker 1: Yes, so he is getting his or pushing for his day in court. The allegations are what they Jesus crime me, these three women, similar stories, patterns. Well, it's okay, but he has never been hauled into court to face charges of any kind when he comes to domestic violence.
00:17:53
Speaker 3: And that was his big defense.
00:17:54
Speaker 2: We saw him give a very long interview on CNM with Jake Tappery yesterday where I have to at least admit this. He was very composed. He kept us cool, He was calm, He didn't get emotional. He didn't react to some of the questions that Jake Tapper was repeatedly asking him. That could have sent a lot of folks down a different road. He maintained his cool and calm. And his big thing is I have been investigated. I have been investigated by family services, I have been investigated by police exhaustively.
00:18:27
Speaker 3: He said.
00:18:27
Speaker 2: Some of these investigations have lasted up to a year and I have been cleared of all wrongdoing. I have never been charged. And so that is his defense. And so I guess in terms of just going beyond that, he's saying, go ahead, investigate me.
00:18:43
Speaker 3: I'm calling for it. I have nothing to hide. I've done nothing wrong.
00:18:47
Speaker 2: And so look, it is a tactic to take. You can walk away and say peace out. I'm going to protect my family. I'm going to protect my reputation, my daughter, and protect my peace. He is saying that, but he actually got He admitted he got a phone call from Trump.
00:19:02
Speaker 3: There were some rumors that Trump told him to.
00:19:05
Speaker 2: Get out of the race basically because today is the day, this Wednesday, this is the last day to replace him. And he claims he told the President, Hey, just like you, I'm going to fight I'm going to fight back against these allegations.
00:19:17
Speaker 3: You had the same thing.
00:19:18
Speaker 2: Going on or something similar in twenty sixteen, and look what you did.
00:19:22
Speaker 3: I'm going to do the same thing.
00:19:24
Speaker 1: He used that in the interview on CNN as well. It's an interesting tactic, but what does he have left? But it's to compare himself to the president who's actually had a jury judgment against him happy to do with sexual assault in a bathroom.
00:19:41
Speaker 3: No, no, no, no, not a dressing in a dressing room.
00:19:43
Speaker 1: So I don't know.
00:19:46
Speaker 2: I guess he knows his audience, and that's the MAGA audience, who do not believe that President Trump, even though he was accused of that among many many egregious acts against women, he feels like, see, they weren't correct, And I'm like the president, and allegations can be made, but it doesn't mean that they occurred.
00:20:09
Speaker 1: But we're sitting here in New York talking about him, and that all that matters is the people in his seventh district in Ohio. That's all that matters. Now, polling there is pretty close. I think he has fallen behind and wasn't supposed to. But still that is a race that is winnable at least polling wise, for him. Let them decide.
00:20:30
Speaker 2: Look, and I don't have an issue with that in terms of letting the political process play out as it was intended by our founding fathers. Let the voters decide who they want to represent them in Ohio seventh district there in Congress, and if it's Max Miller, okay.
00:20:47
Speaker 1: But they're stuck with him after today can't be released. So nobody's going to go campaign for him, I assume, But I.
00:20:54
Speaker 2: Don't think we're going to see anyone standing by his side endorsing him at this point.
00:21:00
Speaker 1: His ex father in law.
00:21:02
Speaker 2: And I wonder if we've heard the last from Senator Moreno. He basically and look, he took a couple of years where he said nothing, He stayed out of it. This was personal, this was private. But after Max Miller went on a how long was his live stream over the weekend where he went on a big defense campaign, that is when Senator Moreno finally did speak out and speak against his ex son in law. So we will see how this messy family situation. But again it's beyond that. It's not just his ex wife. You've got two other women. In fact, the ex girlfriend who had similar allegations against Representative Miller actually this week filed a restraining order.
00:21:43
Speaker 3: Unclear what prompted that.
00:21:45
Speaker 2: Or if it was just for show or just to remind everyone of her allegations against him as well.
00:21:50
Speaker 1: You know what they had to do with that was some allegation having to do with their attorneys and harassment. Is a like, what is going on this whole case. This is a mess, and it's a family mess. And you know who sounds like she didn't want it in public? His ex wife like this.
00:22:07
Speaker 2: They have a daughter, They have a two year old daughter who is going to hear these things, see these things, read these things in the coming years. And yes, that is a sign of a good parent. You want to protect your child from all of this drama. But that ship has sailed, unfortunately, it appears, but will continue to watch what goes on with Congress and Miller, who is vowing to stay in the race. He will be on that ballot, it appears, unless something happens in the next I don't know, less than twenty four hours. He will be on the ballot there in November in Ohio.
00:22:36
Speaker 3: And we will continue to.
00:22:37
Speaker 2: Follow all of the developments. We appreciate you as always everyone. I made me Roebuck alongside TJ.
00:22:43
Speaker 3: Holmes. We'll talk SI